


Can Never Remember

by KuriKoer



Series: The Castle Beyond the Goblin City [3]
Category: C6D - Fandom, Canadian 6 Degrees, Labyrinth (1986), Tin Man (2007)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-24
Updated: 2012-08-24
Packaged: 2017-11-12 19:39:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/494933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuriKoer/pseuds/KuriKoer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a while in the Labyrinth, Zero stumbles upon a momentous find.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can Never Remember

Zero found the book one day, in the ruins of what looked like an ancient tower, bricks and rubble and faded old cloth. He climbed the wreckage to see what else he could find besides these time-stained curtains, torn and bitten through with the teeth of rodents. There were strange surprises in the Labyrinth.

He found it in a relatively clear part of the floor, a hand-sized pocket book, its red paperback cover strangely unharmed. There was a small pile of white feathers dusting the bricks around it.

_Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered..._

That sounded promising. A story of adventure. Zero sat on a pile of broken rocks, settling down comfortably to read.

_I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen._

He put the book down.

So there was a stolen child here too. By Jareth? And where was this child now? Or was the king himself not a rightful heir in whatever passed for a constant rule here... Zero frowned. There never seemed to be a before, or an after. He'd never heard of any other, historic, Goblin Kings. There was only Jareth.

He opened the book again, almost afraid. Something sang up his spine, in the back of the neck, something that told of danger, a warning sign all hunters and soldiers knew. Fear was cold in his bones.

_For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great..._

He put the book down and swallowed, mouth suddenly dry, eyes wide, throat tight with something he could not fathom. He jumped to his feet, graceful and sudden like a snake, and spun on his heel.

The king stood there, staring at him, eyes as wide as Zero's. He was pale, paler than usual, lips almost colourless. There were dark circles under his eyes, and something darker but invisible enveloped around his shoulders, shrouding him like one of his cloaks, clouding his face.

"Please," he said, and his voice was cracked, weak, like dust falling from ancient rocks. "Please, don't go any further."

Zero swallowed again, and his throat hurt. Tension was palpable in the air, the wind whipping around them, picking up in little swirls and whirlpools. The dim, pink light glinted off Jareth's pendant.

"This?" Zero said, holding up the small, unassuming book. "You mean this?"

And Jareth's eyes were deeper than he'd ever seen them, imploring, and Zero tasted blood and ashes in his mouth. He turned half-around, stretched his arm, and resolutely, with the speed and strength of his finest blow, threw the book into the rubble, behind piles of rocks, where it could not be found. He didn't hear it thump when it landed; for all he knew it slipped through one of the gaps in the floor, fell into an abyss, could still be falling for an eternity.

"Thank you," the king whispered, and Zero kissed the pale, dry lips, until they were hot again, until they were pliant under his, until he opened his eyes and found Jareth's own strange, magical eyes laughing back at him.

 

~end~


End file.
